THE BAEBEEEY. 151 



the stiff, sharp, triply-pointed spines which liberally 

 garnish the branches fit it admirably for a protective 

 enclosure, while, as regards appearance, it forms one of 

 the very prettiest of hedges. Spring clothes it first with 

 a foliage of oval serrated leaves, which, being joined to 

 the leaf-stalk by a distinct articulation, are reckoned as 

 compound leaves reduced to a single leaflet ; while the 

 three spines which shoot out at their base are also consi- 

 dered as being the skeletons of undeveloped leaves, or, in 

 the words of Lindley, " a curious state of leaf, in which 

 the parenchyma is absorbed, and the ribs indurated." 

 By June the bush has garlanded itself with wreaths of 

 blossoms, in form, size, and colour not unlike the common 

 little yellow "everlasting" flower, but more light and 

 delicate in make, and far more gracefully disposed, hang- 

 ing in loosely drooping clusters, while the centre of each 

 flower displays six slender stamens surrounded by six 

 petals and six sepals, but calyx and corolla scarcely dis- 

 tinguishable from each other the whole of the blossom 

 being tinted with one uniform hue of pale delicate yellow. 

 By September, another and yet more pleasing variation 

 has taken place ; for the fruit then begins to ripen, and 

 the bush appears in its fulness of glory every spray 

 hung with elegant pendent clusters of little oval berries, 

 flushed with the most vivid scarlet. In flavour these are 

 intensely yet agreeably sharp, owing to the presence of a 

 powerful acid, which Scheele (according to Downing) 

 found to be chiefly acetic, but which Koyle asserted to be 

 malic, and Lindley pronounces to be oxalic. Pickled in 

 vinegar while green, they form an excellent substitute 

 for capers ; when ripe they supply a beautiful garnish, 

 either while fresh or preserved in bunches; and their 

 juice is beneficial to inflamed gums or tonsils, or, in the 

 North of Europe, becomes a substitute for lemon-juice 

 in flavouring punch, &c., while by evaporating it after 

 fermentation, tartar is procured. Preserved, they make a 

 pleasant conserve, which strengthens the stomach, creates 

 appetite, and is useful to check diarrhoea; while even the 

 leaves partake of the acid of the berries, and therefore 

 were formerly, and still might be, used as salad ; besides 



